U.S.To Be Mobile TV Leader

While European broadcast organizations are heavily testing next-generation mobile video services Peter MacAvock, executive director of the DVB project, a European-based consortium that developed the DVB-H (handheld) system, says the U.S. will actually be the first to deploy live commercial services next year.

Crown Castle, the company that will offer the service, which will deliver TV signals to cell phones and other devices that have DVB-H receivers, is currently testing it in Pittsburgh and will roll it out across the U.S. by using its 11,000 existing cellular tower facilities.

While the European rollout will lag behind the U.S. MacAvock does expect next June’s World Cup to provide the impetus for DVB-H to be offered on a trial or possibly even commercial basis in Germany. DVB-H technology definitely took hold at this year’s IBC. Last year the technology was only on display at the DVB booth at the IBC tech conference underway in Amsterdam.

This year? More than 30 demonstrated the system, including Dutch network operator Nozema Services, which transmitted DVB-H signals throughout the exhibition hall.